Attachment for holding dentures.



H. SCHREIER ATTACHMENT FOR HOLDING DENTURES.

APPLICATION FILED1ULY13.197.

sm-QLQSQ, y mem-@d m. 16, um.

fl a g j www r Application filed. July 13, 1917'.

To @ZZ whom '6 may concern.'

Be it known that l, HERMAN Sommier, a citizen of the United States, and resident oi Eal'ieboygan, in the county of-Sheboygan and State of "Viisconsin, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Ab taclfunents for Holding Dentures; and I do hereby declare that the following is a tulle clear, and exact description thereof. lo My invention relates broadly to dental appliances, more particularly to means for holding upper and lower dentures in place.

The principal object of my invention is to provide means for holding an upper denture in position when the roof of the users mouth is too ila-t to retain the plate by the usual vacuum method.

Another important object of my invention consists in the provision of means for allowthe lower denture to move laterally with respect to the upper to correspond to the lateral movement of the lower jaw.

in additional object is to provide a simply constructed attachment oi' the foregoing 2J? class., which can he inexpensively manuifac tured and applied, and when in place in the ueers mouth, will be in such position that its presence will not he noticed.

lilith these and other objects in view the invention resides in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter more particularly described, claimed, and shown iu the drawings wherein:

Figure l represents a side elevational view oli upper and lower dentures having my invention attached thereto.

2 is a vertical sectional View taken substantially on the plane of the line 2 2 l oit Fig. l, certain. portions of the device,

which would not appear in such a view, b e- F i" l by dot and dash lines.

orimntal section ou the plane he hie heeft; oit Fig. Q, various positions me a'i'iorable portion oit the lower jaw part ont the device being' 'indicated by dot and dash lines.

ln the accompanying drawing` wherein ilaa reference characters are applied to :c parts, it will be noted that my invention is applicable t dentures of ordinary shape and construction, such dentures being shown iu Fig. l designated by the numerals l and E?, the upper bearincr the numeral l, while the numeral 2 is applied to the lower.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented @en 1th, lllii.

Serial No. 130,356.

The teeth of the dentures are heldin the plate portions thereof in any preferred manner and the, latter are constructed et vulcanized rubber or similar materials such as are ordinarily used. 6u

The dentures l and 2 are held together by my improved attachment which consists of two members A, each of which are substantially alike, one being disposed on each side of the mouth ofthe user of the dentures. Since both of the members A are alike, it will be necessary to describe only one in detail. This consists of two jaws 3 and l which are vertically alin'ed and are attached respectively to the upper and lower dentures l and 2, as shown in Fig. l. The length of the jaws is immaterial, they being of such size as to readily accomplish their desired functions. The ends of the jaws remote fromv their attaching portions are provided with circular enlargements 5 and 5. A pivot pin 6 extends through the central portions oi' the enlargements 5 and 5 to hold the same together and to permit the outer ends of the jaws 3 and 4E to move t0- ward and away from each other upon similar movement of the dentures. v

From Fig. 3 it will be noted that the enlargements 5 and 5 are each about one half` the width of the jaws so that when said enlargamente are pivoted-together they will occupy a space oil the same width as the jaws. Also, from Fig. 2 it will be noted that the adjacent .tace or each enlargement is provided with an annular recess Tier. the reception of a coiled spring 8 which surrounds the pivot pin (i, one end of said spring beinggsecured to the enlargement 5, while the other end connected to the enlargement 5. rlhis spring is so constructed that its tension will cause the jaws 5 and fl to normally more apart. whereby when the user opens his mouth the dentures will be moved apart a similar distance, the upper denture being retained in tight engagement with the roof 39C oit his mouth. it is obvious that such and arrangement will obviate the necessiti,` of i providing a vacuum recess in the top of the denture plate and allow the same to be held in operativeposition regardless of the shape 105 of the roof ot the users mouth.

To procure the necessary lateral move-` ment of the lower'denture with respect to toA the upper, the lower jaw l oteach member A is formed of 'two parte era-andv tithe free 11G I end of the latter part being bifurcated to receive an ear 9 on the inner end of the first mentioned part 4a.

as shownin jligc '3, they preferably being I concentriofr'ith the center of the pivot pin 'l0 to moeurea. wide range of movement beo tweenv the two parts f The-` foregoing means for obtaining hori- Zontal movement ofi the outerl ends of the armswis merely one arrangement, it being obviousfthat'any other similar means could :U3 be very well employed. When this arrangement" is used the portions 4a' of the jaws 4 are preferably loosely attached to the lower denture' 2, butwhen thev two parts of the lower jaws'are-linked together, or other- Zu wise loosely connected, the outer ends 4f maj, r be fixed 'tot the lower` denture. u ifrom the above description taken 1n oon- Y natation vwith-the accompanying drawing, it

-jwillbe seen that an extremelysimply constructed and efficient attachment has been Epfrovidedwherehy ordinary dentures may be eration.

These parts La and by are hinged together by means of a pivot pin 5 l0 lextending therethrough. IrJhe outer ends 1 or the iurcations and the ear 9 are rounded ineaeee l elaim-:-. i l. A device for holding ,dentures in posi# *tion Acomprising a pair ot' jaws, each havingV v'an enlargement at one end,'the adj aoent'face of each enlargement having a'oavlty, airpi'vot pin extending through the enlargements 't0 hold 'the jaws together, and a spring in said cavities to normally'forceg-the jaws apart.l

. A device. toghe vvicrn' in a persons ,sie

mouth and adapted'for holding' dentures ini position comprising a pair of` jaws pivoted said jaws apart, said jaws being movable together, and means for normally forcing vertically away from each other, one'of said jaws being hinged to permit one portion to move laterally in a horizontal plane.

3, A device to be worn in a persons mouth and. adapted for holding dentures in position comprising a ,pa-ir fof jaws pivoted together, means for .moving theoute'rfends of said Jaws vertically-awayfroinieach other, the lower jaw being,formedp-f"twof'' parts, and means for -pivotally lconneetigv the two parts of the lower jaw to permitithe i outervend of the same to mvelaterallyrin a horizontal plane. i In testimony that I claim thevforegongfl have hereunto set my hand at 'ilwukea in the county of Milwaukee, and State of VVis,v

consin.

' .HERMAN SCHREIER. 

